HK$16,500 Main Event
Day 1a Started
2018 Oriental Poker Championship
HK$16,500 Main Event
Day: 1a
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
2018 Oriental Poker Championship
Buy-in
16,500 HKD
Entries
513
Level
31
Blinds
60,000 / 120,000
Ante
20,000
The 2018 Oriental Poker Championship HKD $16,500 Main Event Live Coverage
![[user357898]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
Good morning, afternoon, and evening wherever you are in the world, and welcome back to PokerNews’ coverage of the inaugural Oriental Poker Championship (OPC) 2018. We’re here all week at the lavish Venetian Macau Resort & Hotel, and while yesterday saw the HK$100K High Roller kick things off, today they’ll get the ball rolling on Day 1a of the HK$16,500 OPC Main Event.
This event comes with an enticing HK$5million guaranteed prize pool, which is sure to attract some of the top talent to the Poker King Club. The starting stack is 30,000, and the plan today is to play 11 40-minute levels, with a 60-minute dinner break scheduled after Level 8. This event has unlimited re-entries, so expect an action-packed day.
While this is the first event here under the OPC banner, it’s not the first time the Venetian Poker Room has held some big tournaments. Almost a year ago to the day we were here for the Poker King Cup Macau 2017 Main Event, a HK$16,500 event which attracted 490 runners to create a healthy HK$7,129,500 prize pool. It was China’s Longyun Li who took that one down for HK$1,225,500 (~$157K), defeating Malaysia’s Michael Soyza heads-up.
We were also here at the Venetian in November 2017 to cover the Suncity Cup Finale Macau. The HK$6,600 Main Event had a massive HK$8million guaranteed in the prize pool, and after ten days of play the 928-strong field was whittled down to just one. South Korea’s Je Ho Lee emerged victorious, banking HK$1,605,472, while Hong Kong’s Park Yu Cheung finished second.
But who will be victorious this week? We’re here to find out. Tomorrow will be Day 1B, which kicks off at 1pm, and there’s a turbo Day 1C tomorrow evening at 6pm. Saturday will be Day 2, Sunday is Day 3, and the whole thing will come to an end on Monday’s Final Day. Here’s a look at the Day 1 structure (it’s worth noting that levels increase from 40 minutes to 60 minutes from Day 2 onwards):
Day 1 Level Structure
| Level | Small Blind | Big Blind | Ante |
| 1 | 50 | 100 | - |
| 2 | 75 | 150 | - |
| 3 | 100 | 200 | - |
| 4 | 100 | 200 | 25 |
| 5 | 150 | 300 | 25 |
| 6 | 200 | 400 | 50 |
| 7 | 250 | 500 | 50 |
| 8 | 300 | 600 | 75 |
| 9 | 400 | 800 | 100 |
| 10 | 500 | 1,000 | 100 |
| 11 | 600 | 1,200 | 200 |
Stick with PokerNews over the next five days as they play down to an Oriental Poker Championship 2018 Main Event champion.
Level: 1
Blinds: 50/100
Ante: 0
Day 1a Is Underway
Level 1
: 50/100, 0 ante
Cards are now in the air for Day 1a of the OPC 2018 Main Event. There are 24 players who have taken their seats so far, perhaps most notably Yang Zhang. The Chinese player has racked up more than $1.3 million in live earnings throughout his poker career.
Expect more notable names to arrive as the day progresses. In the meantime, you can see some of the players currently in the mix below.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
|
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
|
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
|
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
|
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
|
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
|
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
|
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
|
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
|
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
|
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
|
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
|
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
|
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
More Arrivals
Level 1
: 50/100, 0 ante
The players keep arriving here in Level 1. Macau local Sam Cheong is in action, as is Italy's Mauro Francolini. China's Kim As is also in the mix.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
|
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
Lin Pushes The Level 1 Action
Level 1
: 50/100, 0 ante
The first few levels of a tournament like this are usually reserved for taking names and getting to know the players. There isn't usually a whole ton of action of to report in the pre-ante stages.
One player who has certainly pushed the action in the opening level is Shiqiang Lin. In fact, we spent most of the level watching him, as these two hands took a long time to play out.
First, with two limps in front of him, Lin three-bet squeezed to 600 on the button. He picked up three callers, and when it checked to him on a 
flop, he was able to take it down with a continuation bet of 1,500.
Onto the next hand. Wei Guo Liu had limped and when it folded to Lin in the cutoff he raised to 475. The small blind called, and Liu made the call too to see a 
flop. It checked to Lin and he continued for 625, which got a call before Liu raised it up to 1,625. Both players called.
The turn was the 
and it checked to Liu. He now fired 3,125, only for Lin to move all-in for his last 12,000. The small blind folded, and back to Liu, he went deep into the tank. He counted his chips several times, and after around three minutes he eventually made the call.
Shiqiang Lin: 
Wei Guo Liu: 
Lin had the goods with top set, up against Liu's open-ended straight draw. That draw would brick with the 
river, giving Lin a full double up. He's back above starting stack with 32,000, while Liu drops to 14,000.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
32,000 | 2,000 |
|
|
14,000 | 14,000 |
The Low Down on Luo
Level 1
: 50/100, 0 ante
Xixiang Luo has just taken his seat at the beginning of Level 2.
The Chinese player, currently no.7 on the country's all-time money list with almost $1.5 million in cashes, has been on fine form of late. He took down a €1,100 tournament in Monte Carlo earlier this month for €67,700, and final tabled a High Roller event in Macau back in March for HK$822,000 (~US$104,800).
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
30,000 | 30,000 |
Stop The Clock
Level 1
: 50/100, 0 ante
We're taking a short break midway through Level 2 for an opening ceremony from Poker King Club Winfred Yu. We'll bring you all the details from that shortly.
Level: 2
Blinds: 75/150
Ante: 0
Zhu Wins A Cooler
Level 2
: 75/150, 0 ante
There was a huge pot of 31,000 - a starting stack - in the middle by the time Feng Zhu and his opponent reached the turn of an 
board. It checked to Zhu and he moved all-in for his last 11,425, which forced his opponent into the tank for several minutes before eventually making the call.
Zhu revealed his 
, which had coolered the other player's 
. The 
river changed nothing, and Zhu secured a full double up to 53,850. His opponent, who for now sadly remains nameless, is down to just 2,875.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
53,850 | 23,850 |